TEL AVIV: The expulsion of Turkey from the F-35 program could lead to closer relations for the NATO ally with China, a move likely to have far-reaching implications in the Middle East, Israeli national security experts say. There is no doubt that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will now strengthen relations with China, says Uzi Rabi,… Keep reading →

The Pentagon appears to be ready to take further action in the long-running saga over Turkey and the F-35.

WASHINGTON: The US economic vice is beginning to tighten on Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey, who has made it a mark of his presidency to test just how far he can stretch the bonds that knit his country to NATO and the United States. The Pentagon announced today, as my Reuters’ colleague Mike Stone… Keep reading →

  Turkey’s increasingly autocratic president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is an erstwhile NATO ally. Turkey flies F-16s and is a partner in the F-35 program. But Erdogan has committed his country to buying Russia’s reportedly excellent surface to air missile system, the S-400. This op-ed by Bradley Bowman, former aide to Sen. Todd Young of the Senate… Keep reading →

Republican Senators erupted in outrage, and there are some indications that Turkey pushed Trump to withdraw support from its traditional foes, the Kurds. The British government issued an equivocal statement, while the Kremlin applauded the move.

For a while, Turkey and Israel were the unexpected couple, the increasingly Muslim state buying the Jewish state’s weapons and Israel offering Turkey a potentially strategic gas and oil pipeline. Today, Israel is reaching out to NATO and Turkish-Israeli relations are increasingly tense.

WASHINGTON: After two decades of watching the American share of the NATO budget grow from 50 to 75 percent, the alliance’s leadership is determined to learn how to operate without the usual American help, even as nationalist movements roil the capitals of the transAtlantic alliance and Vladimir Putin hacks his way through democratic elections. Meeting… Keep reading →

When President Trump announced that the US had recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the region prepared for violence. Aside from a few days of sporadic protests, relatively little happened. Most Arab leaders – Saudi Arabia chief among them – took the decision in their stride. The one major exception was Turkey. This intriguing op-ed explores why the… Keep reading →

Lost in this month’s headlines is the fact that the democratically elected leaders of three countries close to the United States and important for its security strategies — France, Mali, and Turkey — have declared (or in France’s case, extended) formal states of emergency. All three states cited good reasons for doing so: France and… Keep reading →